In the field of surgical procedures in the oral cavity and particularly in dental implantology, drilling and tapping has to be performed in the jaw bone. For this work to be carried out in good conditions, physiological saline solution has to be brought into the operating field area. The practitioner therefore has physiological saline solution pouches, which are emptied via a sterile irrigation line. This irrigation line is conventionally placed underneath the rollers of a peristaltic pump that continuously irrigates the operating field at a constant volume. When a physiological saline solution pouch is empty or between two successive patients, the practitioner has to remove the irrigation line and discard it with the saline solution pouch and then repeat the operation of fitting an irrigation line connected to a full saline solution pouch.
It has been observed that, with commercially available peristaltic pumps, placing the irrigation line underneath the pump rollers is not an easy operation. The practitioner has to use both hands in order to bend the irrigation line and shape it such that it can be put underneath the pump rollers. This is a difficult operation which requires dexterity on the part of the practitioner and which constitutes an addition to his work load. Further, it is not unusual for the practitioner to be unable to put the irrigation line in at the first attempt, so that he is obliged to repeat these operations.
The basic operating principle of a peristaltic pump is simple. When a roller compresses the irrigation line, it causes a volume of fluid to move forward and at the same time creates a depression that allows the inflow of the next volume of fluid. There are three rollers. It is clear that when the rollers rotate and successively compress the irrigation line, they exert a traction force thereon that is tangent to the circular trajectory of the rollers and oriented in the same direction as the rotational direction of the rollers. It is therefore necessary to provide means for immobilising the irrigation line next to the peristaltic pump rollers. Usually in commercially available peristaltic pumps, the irrigation line is clamped between two jaws upstream and downstream of the pump rollers. The drawback of this solution is immediately apparent: if the irrigation line is not suitably arranged and the jaws close on it, the irrigation line will be subject to shearing force and will be pierced.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the aforementioned problems, in addition to others, by providing a peristaltic pump for surgical or dental use and an irrigation line, the implementation of which is extremely simple, requiring simple movements on the part of the practitioner and avoiding any risk of piercing or cutting the irrigation line.